The year is 2013. And weed remains illegal. We can’t do anything other than keep pushing, pleading, voting, and smoking the herb we love. There is nothing in this life more powerful than facts-and facts can only be ignored for so long. Here are 42 facts about marijuana:

1. No one has ever overdosed or died from smoking too much weed. In the history of mankind.

2. Marijuana has been in an “official” state of prohibition since 1937-s Marijuana Tax Act (in the United States). Because, among other reasons, it made white women desire black men.

3. Colorado and Washington legalized cannabis for recreational use this past October. They have estimated tax revenues of over $550 Million from this legalization.

4. There are more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks in Los Angeles and Denver. Because reefer is safter than coffee.

5. There are 26 States with pending marijuana legislation, both medical and legal. 8 of these states have a legitimate chance to legalize recreational use. This is called a “Tipping Point.”

6. Over the last decade, the NYPD has spent 1 Million Hours Making 440,000 Marijuana Arrests.

7.The first law in America relating to cannabis was a 1619 law that actually required farmers to grow the hemp plant. Once harvested, hemp was useful for clothing, sails, and rope.

8. In 1906, cannabis was labeled as a “poison” and states began restricting its sale.

9. By the mid 1930s, cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state.

10. From 1850 to 1942, marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia as a useful medicine for nausea, rheumatism, and labor pains and could be purchased from pharmacies and general stores.

11. The last four presidents, including Barack Obama, have all admitted to smoking cannabis.

12. Since Nixon declared the “War On Drugs” in 1971, over a trillion dollars have been spent on it. It takes the average person under an hour to find drugs in a new city.

13. 18 states and the District of Columbia currently have a form of medical marijuana policy.

14. A recent Gallup Poll concluded that 52% of Americans now favor all out legalization. The other 48% are packing their bongs. And 72% of Americans view the War on Drugs as a waste of government resources.

15. The first two drafts of the United States Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper.Before its ban, hemp was a common cash crop for family farms in early America.

16. About one-fourth of America’s population has tried marijuana at least once. The rest are lying.

17. Studies have proven that the high from cannabis is very comparable to that of a runners high.

18. A recent study proved that cannabis aids both lung and breast cancer-and does not cause any form of cancer. It only cures.

19. The first recorded use of marijuana as a medicinal drug occurred in 2737 B.C. by Chinese emperor Shen Nung. The emperor lauded the drug as a miracle cure for rheumatism and gout.

20. There are over 200 slang terms for marijuana in the popular vernacular. Illegal Toxin is not one of them.

21. Just under 40% of high school students in the U.S. report using marijuana at least once in their life, and 20% report using it regularly.

22. The sale of bongs and paraphernalia is now illegal in Florida. The same state in which self defense with a firearm is legal.

23. Weed is the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States. And the world.

24. The growth, sale and consumption of cannabis is not regulated by the North Korean government or classified as a drug.

25. Marijuana arrests-at 663,032 in 2011-exceed violent crime arrests by over 100,000. We call that “rubbish.”

26. Marijuana is used to fight other drug addictions-most recently, in Bogota, Colombia.

27. Accident studies have found that drivers who test positive for marijuana often show no signs of impairment, and in some instances even may drive more safely.

28. Marijuana is not physically addictive.

29. Over 100 Americans have admitted to smoking cannabis in the past year. Over 50 million Americans smoke cannabis on a regular basis-while 1 in 10 teens smoke it more than 20 times a month.

30. Health studies have proven there are no long-term health detriments from marijuana use-only benefits. And a little short term memory loss.

31. Cigarettes Kill 443,000 people a year-in the United States Alone. Vending machines kill 10 people a year. That’s 443,010 more than cannabis has ever killed.

32. Marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment and significantly less than moderate doses of alcohol and prescription drugs cause.

33. After collecting tax revenue from MMJ collectives for 6 months in 2011, the City of Los Angeles gained over $2,500,000 in taxes from dispensaries.

34. The NBA does not test athletes for marijuana use in the offseason.

35. Marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. Despite what DARE tells you, numerous studies have found it is a terminus and does not lead to other drug use.

36. An estimated amount of over 800,000 people are arrested for marijuana each year, most of which are for simple possession.

37. An NFL lineman estimated that 50% of the league smokes marijuana on a regular basis. And that as much as 90% of the league *probably* uses it.

38. More than 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the last year.

39. California is the largest producer and distributor in the United States. And also the biggest loser of said product.

40. 52% of Americans now favor legalization, with only 45% opposed, while 72% believe the government’s efforts against cannabis “cost more than they are worth.”

41. Legalization would save the United States an estimated $14 billionper year.

42. Despite these facts, Marijuana remains federally illegal. BUT NOT FOR LONG…

Free the weed. If u get caught with over 1000 plants it is 40 years in prison. In most states if u drink and drive (first years offence) and kill somebody u get 5 to 10 years. It seems that the government cares more about a plant then life. That ain’t right. Free the weed

Thom M

Marijuana create a sense of well being and alters the sense. it contains chemicals taht work by binding to specific sites in the brain and on the nerves. Long term use can have a wide-ranging effects, such as short-term memory loss and increased heart. People who are using marijuana complain that their ability to think cleary is impaired-to remmber, to organize their thoughts, to follow through with mulititasking. THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, hijacks and corrupts the natural process of endsconnabinoids, a key family of chemicals that help guide the brain in proper maturation.These chemicals play key roles in memory formation, learning, decision making. Marijuana has a cumulative effect on achievement, and people do become dependent on it. There needs to be more study on other health risks to the body.

http://www.facebook.com/michelle.teer1 Michelle Harriger Teer

Thom – I would gladly trade some short-term memory (mines about gone anyway) for the benefits that smoking marijuana would bring. I have fibromyalgia, and am in constant pain. Most of the time I feel like my back is breaking, and the neuropathy is excruciating. If marijuana could ease this pain rather than taking a narcotic pain reliever, I am all in. As for recreational use, it’s not as dangerous as alcohol so why is it still illegal?

Marie Starr

Right? I have no short term memory… a side effect of one of my learning disabilities… And I tell ya, NOTHING I have ever TRIED or been PRESCRIBED has EVER BEEN more BENEFICIAL to me than GOOD OLD marijuana… It HELPS my memory, focus, depth perception, clarity, creativity & perspective…. Not to mention my MOOD & physical state… FOH Thom… Talking about what you obviously have no KNOWLEDGE of…

Joe Vigliatura

Many very intelligent and successful professionals smoke pot on a regular basis. There are many chemicals from the various foods and “medicines” we ingest that do what you describe. Marijuana is much safer for our bodies and mind than let’s say, alcohol, and yet alcohol is legal. That is the height of hypocrisy. Everything we ingest these days has a “health risk” to the body. So Thom M, and people like Thom M, you sound like educated narrow minded idiots when it comes to the debate on whether marijuana should be legal or what it supposedly does to the body. Instead of thinking in narrow terms, think about it as compared to the many poisons we are allowed to ingest or have to ingest because it was prescribed. That’s where the public discussion should go. It should definitely not cause a person to be caged for using, growing or possessing the plant. That is downright inhumane and cruel punishment and it is constantly being used as a tool to enslave a large segment of the populace by a bunch of misguided hypocrites.

Joe Vigliatura

May I add also, that the ability to grow your own should not be prohibited as you never know what you are getting on the “street”. Keeping pot illegal is what ruins or at least disrupts people’s lives, not the weed itself.

twin29210

Legalize it .

http://www.purplecloudzlifestyle.com/ Mz. 420

I agree, legalize it!

mikey

DARE actually just removed references to Marijuana from their curriculum. Yay for that!LEGALIZE 2013.

huituhj

lol

Joe Vigliatura

Decent list, however I found a few that didn’t sit right with me.

#1. You can’t prove no one has ever died from the use of marijuana. On the contrary, I am sure it’s use has contributed to a few deaths. Just as choking on a steak, or having a coke machine topple on top of you.

#4. Where’s the research that concluded pot is safer than coffee. I mean, It probably is, because coffee does have an awful lot of chemicals in it. I have never seen any research comparing the two. I did, however find that with Caffeine consumption, there were six recorded deaths in the United States in 1991, and no deaths from using marijuana.

#22. You can legally buy bongs and paraphernalia in most counties in Florida.

#29. You must have meant 100 million…(you’re welcome).

#31. Refer to # 1.

#38. You already inferred on #29 100 million smoked it in the past year.

Bongo

In addition:

#18 It’s true that marijuana can cure cancers but smoking it still releases carcinogenics (cancer forming chemicals) Smoking anything is bad for you, there are much better ways to intake it.

#28 This is true but it is mentally addictive, the high is great and people that smoke regularly tend not to like being sober

nothing

this is rubbish

Pothead Loretta

LEGALIZE IT!!!!!!!!!

Michael

To sell pills is all about money and weed you don’t need pills it helps everything

ur dumb

what the hell is wrong with you people?? serioudly these facts are shit ”16. About one-fourth of America’s population has tried marijuana at least once. The rest are lying.” omfg i can’t even, you white ppl r so dumb lmao bye.

weed can kill you

no one fucking gives a shit about the fact that it’s going to save america money, damn these facts are so wrong.

LukeNewYork

Legalize✌️

Some strange girl.

Alcohol is legal, it kills people every fucking day. Weed is not legal, it cures people. At least from stress and shit. But hey, i’m the one with Anxiety that causes heart attacks. And i’m only 15. So. Y’know. If I didn’t have the option to smoke weed, i’d probably be dead. Heart attacks don’t feel very good. c: